Spanish property bargains and how to find them

Real estate management isn't something I know much about, but I do know a lot about selling, sales management in particular is my great strength. I hope my regular readers will forgive me, and if any of you are in the market for Spanish property, well, I may be able to help.

I can't mention which real estate agent I've been working with, but the guy who owns the agency really needed some help with managing his sales team and dealing with a smaller prospect base and since my entire career has been involved in sales I got involved.

Property in Spain has taken a real hit recently with over supply in the market, overall something like 2 million extra properties that are struggling to sell and less mortgages in Spain being approved.

The general crisis being felt everywhere is also hitting property sales in Spain, with some estimates that about a third of all real estate agents closing down over the next year.

For investors with a little bit of cash to play with this could be very good news, and some real bargains are cropping up in Spain that will likely recover and hold their value over the next few years despite the over supply.

Here's what's happening, a very large number of local real estate agents have also dabbled in speculative developments which they borrowed heavily against. Suffice to say the agent himself may end up being your vendor.

So, if you're looking for a bargain what should you look for? I'd avoid new developments unless they are basically complete and in amongst other established properties. It seems many of the newer residential barrios may not be completed for quite some time, and who wants to own a property in the middle of a building site?

By the way, did I mention I'm not an expert, please don't take anything I say on authority, I can only relate what I've been hearing from other people, and in these economic circumstances there are a lot of desperate people who trying to protect their position.

One of the interesting things that seems to be happening around these parts is that property prices are static when you look in agency windows or the listings on their websites, but behind closed doors I'm hearing about massive reductions, as much as 60% in some cases.

I'd love to hear about property sales in other parts of Spain or the world, leave your comment below.